A parish council has been forced into a humiliating u-turn after blocking plans to display World War One ‘Silent Soldier’ silhouettes - because they carried rifles. Plans for the memorial soldiers to commemorate the centenary of the Great War in the scenic village of Brockenhurst, in the New Forest, Hants, were initially rejected by the local council.

Councillors claimed that the it was because of concerns that the ‘Tommys’ were carrying guns, which could cause offence to local residents. Brockenhurst Parish Council’s Amenities and Infrastructure Committee rejected the silent soldiers - favouring poppies on lamp posts as a way to remember fallen troops from the area.

Outraged local residents started an online petition called ‘Allow the Silent Soldiers to be heard in Brockenhurst’, which was signed by nearly 1000 people challenging the council to reverse their decision.

The full council has since made an embarrassing u-turn on their decision after facing backlash and have now ordered one silent soldier which will be displayed in the village.

The near life-size metal silhouettes of a First World War ‘Tommy’ were designed by the Royal British Legion to mark the centenary of WWI - they have been fixed on buildings, gardens, fields, and roundabouts across the UK to remember fallen troops.

Everyone is paralysed by political correctness, they are all scared witless in case they offend someone - anyone in fact - by anything and everything. The backlash won't be pretty. People are being pushed into resentment.